Update from Kathmandu: We are now preparing equipment and packing as the pictures show; packing in bags and barrels, and going through all our medications.We will have one extra day in Kathmandu and fly out Wednesday the 17th Sep.The extra day will be used for preparation and enjoying Yoga, Meditation, massage and good food. Then we will be ready to fly out for our trek to Base Camp. Along the trek we will probably be caught by a lot of leeches as the wet conditions and jungle trail brings them out in numbers. As we gain height after about three days we should climb out of the leech zone. We are looking forward to enjoy one more day in Kathmandu, but even more to start our journey to the mountain!

I came to Kathmandu yesterday and found myself a tiny little room in a noisy street in the heart of Thamel....well what isn't noisy here? But that is exactly the charm of this place! Today I am preparing in a slow tempo; I have some days here now before Garrett is flying in and we will do the final preparations for our upcoming expedition.

Hey peeps!I am now sending you greetings from a lovely beach in Zanzibar where I am enjoying the waves and the sun in-between climbs. I just came back from a successful climb to Uhuru Peak, Kilimanjaro with Madison Mountaineering where we had a 100% summit success.First day we hiked through the rain forest, listened to the jungle sounds and saw monkeys jumping from tree to tree. We had a fantastic surprise lunch in the middle of nowhere, organized by our outstanding local crew.Second day we hiked up from the rain forest and had the beautiful view to Kilimanjaro and Mt Mero, - now moving above the clouds.The third day we hiked up to and climbed Lawa Tower in a landscape which could be on the moon.The fourth day we started out climbing the Baranco Wall where we scrambled our way to the top and continued to the Karanga camp. The fifth day we have a nice climb up to our high camp at Kosovo camp where we enjoy an early dinner before crawling into our sleeping bags to get a bit of sleep.The sixth day is a long but very exciting day. We started out midnight and climbed in the light of our headlights. We reached stella point at the first ray of light and continue to the top where we enjoy the sun rise and the fantastic view. We pause for a while at the top to enjoy the magic of our local guides silent song and celebrate the moment.Then we decent to highcamp, enjoying breakfast, packing and relaxing a bit before we continue to our last camp down in the rainforest. Here we enjoy a lot of O2 and our last night brushing our teeth under a billion of stars.Our last day is a nice walk through the rainforest down to Mweka entrance where our local staff and crew greets us with singing and dancing. We celebrate with Kilimanjaro beer and an outstanding lunch buffet.

Thanks to Thompson family and madison Mountaineering for a great trip!

Please see www.madisonmountaineering.com for more information and upcoming trips. And please come with us for the next Kilimanjaro climb!